My pants are wet
Long story
I'm gonna go get nekked

~Cat
posted by Suicide at 2:04 PM

The other day, I get this call
It's a woman that I met, through the races this past summer, and she says that she has found me an outboard *since I've been looking for one*
So that's good, I ask her the questions, what year, how big and how much is it
She says that it was a '72, 55 hp and I could have it for what she had in it (which was $100, she had bought it for her sons boat, but they thought it was a little too much power, so they got him a 50 instead, whats 5 hp right?)
So I said that was good, I mean, my skiff only had a 35 hp on it, and it went pretty good *but the lower unit is shot in it, the second one I've gone through and they are as rare as owl's teeth, and the parts are too damn pricey to try and fix it*
So I go to meet up with her, and it's in the back of her Caddy. So I pull it out, as careful as I can be. And DAMN is this thing heavy. It is a little beat up, but the controls and everything are there. The propeller is really screwed up... But then again, on my 35 the prop was messed up too, but it went like a raped ape! So I finally get this oddly shaped heavy thing up into the truck, give the lady her money, and I'm on my way home. I put it up on the chain fall and look it over. The wires inside are a little chewed up, the insulation on them is gone in parts, probably due to some mice or something... Bastards. The shifting mechanism is electric/hydraulic. Rather than purely mechanical, which I was used to. So now to put it in gear, I push a button! How cool is that? That's right, PRETTY DAMN COOL! But since it was only $100, you have to wonder what was wrong with it. She said the guy she got it from said he didn't know, it just didn't run. So today, I decide to go fuck around with it. Tinker tinker and stuff. I looked all the wires over, took the tape off them *they are all sticky now cause of the residue* and hooked up the battery cables. After screwing around with some bad connections, I put some slightly bigger cables on, that had some ends on it *rather than just the bare wires I was trying to put around the posts* and turned the key. Wow does that thing ever crank. The starter spins the flywheel really fast! So the next step... was to find a container that I could put water in so that the outboard would run *cause they are water cooled and the pick-up is on the lower unit, so that has to be submerged*. I found an old wet-vac container basin (32 gal) filled that up, and put the lower unit in some water. The basin had to be big, because it takes 16 inches of depth to get up to the water inlets and it takes 21 inches to put the lower unit into, because of the casing. Some fuel was hooked up, and the engine was cranked over, and over, and over. It just wouldn't start. But then again, when was the last time it ran? No doubt it was a LONG TIME AGO! But my battery didn't mind turning the engine over, so I just cranked, and cranked, and cranked. Then it sputtered a little. COMBUSTION! Crank it some more... Sputter sputter. Long story short, after a few little runs, after playing with the choke and the carbs, my engine came to life. Doing the whole vroom vroom thing. Satisfied I turned it off. But then, I wanted to play with it again. So I jiggle the throttle a little, open the 3 carbs *one for each cylinder* and crank the key... VROOM! I finally got everything loosened up and all 55 horses woke up. That got me excited. But since no water was coming out, I think my water pump is shot. So I put the engine up for the night, and tomorrow I plan on ordering a water pump for it.
Oh, today I also put in a hot water heater for my sister. But it wasn't nearly as much fun. Not even when I got electrocuted by it when I checked on it later and the release valve had sprung a leak. Let that be a lession to you kiddies, don't re-use release valves, and don't stick your hand in the casing when it's full of water to yank the wires out. It was not pleasant.

~Cat
posted by Suicide at 7:58 PM